DENVER — It appears likely that former President Trump’s name will appear on Colorado primary ballots, but that does not mean he is qualified to receive votes.
The Colorado Republican Party petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to overturn the Dec. 19 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to disqualify Trump from the ballot based on the 14th Amendment.
Colorado election law allows a voter to challenge a candidate’s qualifications. Six Colorado voters, four Republicans and two Democrats, backed by the Washington, D.C. liberal group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sued to disqualify Trump from the ballot saying he did not meet the qualifications based on the 14th Amendment.
> Video above: Meet the Republican who led the effort to get Donald Trump off state ballots
A presidential candidate must be 35 years old, a natural born citizen and have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment talks about being disqualified from holding office if the person engaged in insurrection after taking an oath to support the Constitution.
On Dec. 19, in a 4-to-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a Denver District Court ruling that Trump engaged in insurrection, but overturned the lower court’s ruling that the 14th Amendment does not apply to the president.
Then, the Colorado Supreme Court stayed that ruling, meaning it would be put on hold, if an appeal was sought in the U.S. Supreme Court by Jan. 4, and would remain in place until an order or mandate from the U.S. Supreme Court was received.
Based on the timeline, Trump’s name would still be printed on the ballot, unless the U.S. Supreme Court, by Jan. 4, chooses not to take this case.
The Colorado GOP, through the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Colorado’s decision.
“The Republican Party has been irreparably harmed by the decision below. The state has interfered in the primary election by unreasonably restricting the Party’s ability to select its candidates. As a natural and inevitable result, the state has interfered with the Party’s ability to place on the general election ballot the candidate of its choice. And it has done so based on a subjective claim of insurrection the state lacks any constitutional authority to make,” the petition states.
The Colorado GOP asks the nation’s highest court to consider three questions:
- Does the 14th Amendment apply to the president?
- Is Section 3 of the 14th Amendment self-executing, meaning does it take effect without an action by Congress?
- Is it a violation of the First Amendment to deny a political party its ability to choose the candidate of its choice?
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